Perfection for the Christian

It would be a mistake for us, as Christians, to imagine that God wants to make us perfect specimens of what He can do. The only perfect person was Jesus Christ. And while it is true that we will one day become perfect, that will not be true this side of heaven. God’s purpose is to make us one with Himself. Yet most of us spend more time asking God for things than we do actually seeking God. The more time we spend thinking about ourselves, the greater we hinder God’s work in, and through us.

The Apostle Paul touched on this when he wrote to the Church at Philippi: “Not that I have already attained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”

It is, for the Christian, the pressing on that matters most to God. The Christian walk (what we refer to as “sanctification”) is an ongoing process throughout the Christian life of seeking God, seeking to be more like Christ. Yet we fall into a trap of thinking that by simply asking God to transform us, that He will somehow do so instantly.

This is the mistaken belief that because He CAN do something that it is automatically His will to do it in our timing and at our bidding. When we do that we fall into spiritual laziness. It’s as if we are asking God to do all the hard work. Work that consists of prayer (talking with God with the purpose of achieving a greater intimacy) and greater obedience to his will (something we achieve and know instinctively through that greater intimacy).

John recorded the words of Jesus in verses 23 and 24 in chapter 14 of his Gospel, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”

Just as a successful marriage requires intimacy and good communication, so it is for the Christian. The greater that intimacy, the stronger the relationship and the greater the results. As Christians it is less about receiving (what we desire) and more about giving (what God desires).